MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Medical Solutions, a Vireo Health company, today announced the unanimous ratification of a new three-year agreement by their union workforce, UFCW Local 1189.

“This innovative agreement between MinnMed and UFCW aligns business and labor interests and ensures that our employees benefit as our Company becomes more successful,” said Dr. Kyle Kingsley, CEO of Vireo Health. “The agreement underscores our commitment to providing employees with fair wages and great benefits, and will help us recruit and retain the best talent. With that talent, we can provide patients with high-quality products and compassionate care, and also build a profitable business. It is incumbent upon us to lay an economic foundation that will provide employees with the wages and benefits their families deserve and invest in ways that help local economies across Minnesota prosper.”

“We were really pleased to be able to recommend this offer to our members,” said Jennifer Christensen, President of Local 1189. “It is a fair settlement that will ensure that the company is able to recruit and retain exceptional workers. This is important not just for our members, but for the medical cannabis patients in Minnesota.”

The agreement included an extension of the employer’s commitment to cover all costs associated with health insurance through 2017. After that, full-time employees will begin to contribute $5 per week toward the union’s Health and Welfare Plan.

“What is really important is the employer’s commitment to full-time living wage union jobs,” added Christensen. “Part-time jobs do exist but as business expands and hours become available those jobs are transformed into full-time. Minnesota Medical Solutions is leading the way nationally, and it shows in the quality of products and services that our members provide for the people of Minnesota.”

Additionally, there were changes to the paid time off (PTO) policy, an increase in holidays and changes to the mileage and travel time reimbursement system. There will also be an additional position in the bargaining unit for the union.

Vireo Health also has an agreement with its union workforce in New York, being the first medical cannabis company to ratify a labor contract in the Empire State.

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About Vireo Health: Vireo Health, LLC is a physician-led company dedicated to alleviating pain and suffering by providing patients with high-quality cannabis-based products and compassionate patient care. Vireo is the parent company of two wholly-owned subsidiaries licensed to operate in New York and Minnesota – Vireo Health of New York and Minnesota Medical Solutions. The Company plans to expand into more states and recently received preliminary approval to cultivate and manufacture medical cannabis in Maryland. For more information, visit www.vireohealth.com.

MinnMed Announces Price Reductions to make Medical Cannabis More Accessible to PatientsSpecial discount program launched for active military and veterans

Minneapolis, MN – Minnesota Medical Solutions (“MinnMed”), one of the two companies licensed by the state to cultivate, manufacture and dispense medical cannabis, has announced unprecedented price reductions that will make medical cannabis more affordable and accessible to Minnesota patients.

As part of its commitment to improve patient access to Minnesotans, MinnMed has reduced the prices of more than two-dozen medical cannabis products, some by more than 50%.

“My top priority as a physician is to ensure that patients have access to the medicine they need,” said Dr. Kyle Kingsley, Chief Executive Officer of Minnesota Medical Solutions and Vireo Health. “It pains me any time I learn of an individual who qualifies for medical cannabis but cannot afford to purchase these medications. The impetus for today’s decision to reduce prices is to improve patient access by making cannabis medicines significantly more affordable to Minnesotans struggling with life-threatening and debilitating conditions.”

Prices have been reduced across the Vireo Spectrum™ – including THC dominant, CBD dominant and balanced medications – so that all patients, regardless of their qualifying medical condition, could benefit.

“The substantial price reduction for ‘Starter Packages’ will allow first-time patients to try our medications at an extremely affordable price-point,” said Dr. Stephen Dahmer, Chief Medical Officer of Vireo Health. “This will significantly reduce the financial burden facing new patients trying to determine if medical cannabis could provide them with therapeutic benefits and improve their quality of life.”

These price reductions come on top of MinnMed’s existing compassionate discount program for low-income patients which provides those eligible for Medical Assistance, Minnesota’s Medicaid program, with an additional 15-percent discount. Moreover, under a newly added discount program, patients that are active-duty military or veterans will also be eligible for a 15-percent discount.

Detailed information about MinnMed products and new prices can be found online at https://minnesotamedicalsolutions.com/products/. The new prices are effective immediately.

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Detailed information about MinnMed products and prices can be found online at https://minnesotamedicalsolutions.com/products/. The new prices are effective immediately.

Minneapolis, MN – As 2016 comes to a close, Minnesota Medical Solutions (“MinnMed”), one of the two companies licensed by the state to cultivate, manufacture and dispense medical cannabis, will be awarding a $20,000 grant to the City of Otsego.

As part of its annual commitment to the city in which it operates its state-of-the-art cultivation and manufacturing facility, MinnMed will award a $20,000 unrestricted grant to the City of Otsego which may be used to support local investments in public safety, parks and streets. Going forward, MinnMed will allocate 2% of its annual net profits to the City of Otsego.

“Supporting local communities is a core value of our company,” said Dr. Kyle Kingsley, Chief Executive Officer of Minnesota Medical Solutions and Vireo Health. “We couldn’t be happier with our decision to build our business in Otsego, a business-friendly city, with a high caliber workforce. As MinnMed becomes more profitable, we look forward to contributing even more to the local community that has embraced us and supported our growth.”

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About Minnesota Medical Solutions
Minnesota Medical Solutions is a physician-led company dedicated to providing best-in-class cannabis-based medications and top quality patient care. The company provides a wide array of scientifically formulated, third-party tested cannabis-based products derived from the highest quality plants and utilizes its separation chemistry capabilities to create products with novel cannabinoid combinations. Minnesota Medical Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vireo Health, LLC. For more information, visit http:/www.minnesotamedicalsolutions.com.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is being added to the list of conditions covered by Minnesota’s medical cannabis program, effective next August.

The expansion, announced Thursday by Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger, adds an option for the estimated 8 percent of Minnesotans who, at some point in their lives, will suffer PTSD, a condition that can cause people to relive the emotion of traumatic experiences through panic attacks, nightmares and severe anxiety.

Minnesotans also petitioned to add arthritis, depression and six other conditions, but Ehlinger said the research to date didn’t support the others as strongly.

“PTSD presented the strongest case for potential benefits and a relative lack of good treatment alternatives,” said Ehlinger, who has discretion under state law to enlarge program coverage.

The medical cannabis program already covers seizure disorders, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Tourette’s syndrome and intractable pain — which was added earlier this year and resulted in a surge of patients.

Roughly 3,500 Minnesotans with qualifying conditions are certified to receive medical cannabis, which for now is provided only in oil or pill form in the state. Ehlinger also said Thursday that the state will permit the use of medical cannabis in a topical form, such as patches or creams, starting next year.

Minnesota will allow the use of medical marijuana to treat people suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, state health officials said Thursday.

The Minnesota Department of Health had been weighing requests to expand the use of medical cannabis for PTSD, autism, arthritis, depression and other conditions.

“While the process of reviewing these potential additions was difficult due to the relative lack of published scientific evidence, PTSD presented the strongest case for potential benefits,” Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger said in a statement.

“PTSD also has few effective treatment alternatives available for some patients with the condition,” he added.

Currently, 16 states list PTSD as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and three others, plus Washington, D.C., give doctors “broad latitude” to recommend it for any serious conditions.

By JENNIFER BROOKS , STAR TRIBUNE
November 08, 2016 – 5:01 PM
When Minnesota’s medical marijuana program opened its doors to pain patients this summer, the hope was that people in pain, and a program struggling with growing pains, might be able to help each other.

That was three months ago. Since then, pain patients have rushed to a program that has battled sluggish enrollment and high prices since its launch last year. Half the people currently enrolled are pain patients, and while it’s too soon to know if that’s enough to save Minnesota’s cannabis program, many patients say the program has already saved them.

“It’s given me my life back,” said Jeanne Luck, one of the 1,667 Minnesotans who have turned to the Office of Medical Cannabis in search of relief from intractable pain — severe, chronic pain that is not eased by the usual painkillers, opioids or therapy.

Learn more about Jeanne’s powerful story and experience with Minnesota Medical Solutions here.

It’s been three months since chronic pain became a qualifying condition for medical marijuana in Minnesota. While the program continues to struggle with low enrollment and high costs, some see reasons for optimism.

One such reason is a recent uptick in patients. According to the most recent numbers from the state, more than 700 health care practitioners are now authorized to certify patients for the state’s medical marijuana program, and nearly 4,000 Minnesotans are now enrolled.

“Going from 18 medications to three medications, and my cannabis has been the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Jody Taylor-Haye said Tuesday morning.

She’s one of many chronic pain patients who say the last three months have been life-changing.

But the program is far from perfect.

“We’re competing with Percocet, where you can basically buy a bottle of 60 or 90 Percocet that can kill most people, and you can get that for a $6 copay,” explained Minnesota Medical Solutions CEO Dr. Kyle Kingsley. “So it’s really hard to compete with that.”

Minnesota Medical Solutions is one of two medical marijuana manufacturers in Minnesota. Since chronic pain became a qualifying condition, Kingsley said they’ve gained about 1,000 new patients, calling it “an objectively good thing.”

Special Vaporizer Cartridge Helps Patients Only Get As Much THC As Needed

Minneapolis, MN (August 31, 2016) – Minnesota Medical Solutions (MinnMed) today announced that it had developed a new product that will help patients moderate the delivery of THC, the primary psychoactive chemical found in the cannabis plant that can cause side effects, such as sensory distortion and lowered reaction time.

The Company’s new “MinnMed Silver” product is a prefilled vaporizer cartridge containing a formulation of natural ingredients and a small amount of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), one of the two primary medicinal chemicals in cannabis. This special formula was created to minimize the various THC-related side effects experienced by many patients. It is the only product of its type available to Minnesota patients.

“Seniors and other patients are understandably wary of side effects,” said Kyle Kingsley, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of MinnMed and its parent company Vireo Health. “While the side effects associated with cannabis are much milder than patients have with opioid pain killers, our new MinnMed Silver formulation will help patients go slow and only get as much medicine as they need.”

For patients that don’t need THC for effective treatment, such as patients with conditions involving seizures, the THC-free MinnMed Violet formulation can be used. However for other patients, such as pain patients, THC is necessary to provide relief. For pain patients, the MinnMed Silver formulation can ensure that patients without experience with cannabis don’t get more THC than then they need.

MinnMed Silver is being released at a time when many new patients suffering from pain are trying medical cannabis, often as an alternative to opioid-based medications. As of August 1, 2016, Minnesota patients with pain that can’t be relieved using conventional treatment methods are eligible to purchase medical cannabis.

The heaviest users of opioids are seniors, according to a December 2014 Express Scripts report. At the same time, they are the age group with the least experience with cannabis, according to a July 2015 Gallup survey. To date, Minnesota seniors, age 65 and above, have been underrepresented in the State’s medical cannabis program. While seniors represent 18 percent of the State’s adult population, ages 18 and above, they only account for 12 percent of the active adult patients in the State’s medical cannabis program.

“As an emergency medicine physician, I saw that many seniors were opioid victims,” said Kingsley. “With seniors disproportionately suffering from pain and suffering opioid-related tragedies, we need to help them overcome their cannabis-related concerns.”

“Dosing by milligram is one of the most important differentiators of a medical approach to cannabis-based medicines. Observing patients who respond to very low dosing, yet are cautious or sensitive to the psychotropic effects of THC, inspired the development of MinnMed Silver,” said Stephen Dahmer, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Vireo Health of New York. “This product is aligned with our ‘Start Low. Go Slow.’ protocol by providing patients with a medical cannabis product containing much lower levels of THC. While MinnMed Silver could be used by patients of all ages, the impetus for this new offering has been informed by interactions with senior patients in our Cannabis Patient Centers.”

MinnMed has four Cannabis Patient Centers located in Bloomington, Minneapolis, Moorhead and Rochester.

“This is a modest step in the right direction that will help us build on a growing body of research documenting the effectiveness of cannabis-based medicines. That’s good for physicians who need better research, and for patients who deserve the best possible treatments.

Ultimately, we strongly support the enactment of the bi-partisan CARERS Act that would acknowledge the scientific evidence that cannabis has accepted medical use and truly empower states to regulate their own medical cannabis programs. Today we made progress, but additional federal reforms are needed to help make medical cannabis more affordable and accessible to patients.”

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Background: MinnMed operates four Patient Centers located in Bloomington, Minneapolis, Moorhead and Rochester. More background is available MinnMed at minnesotamedicalsolutions.com.

In May 2016, Minnesota Department of Health research found that about 90 percent of Minnesota patients were experiencing benefits from cannabis- based medicines.

Background on the CARERS Act at gillibrand.senate.gov/issues/medical-marijuana.

As a former emergency medicine physician, I’ve seen my share of patients suffering due to opioid addiction and overdoses. After all, more than 1,000 people per day are treated in emergency departments for misusing prescription opioids, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Americans can’t keep using opioids, such as oxycodone, morphine, and hydromorphone, the way we have been, because they are highly habit forming and deadly. In 2014, the CDC reported that almost 2 million Americans abused or were dependent on prescription opioids. From 1999 to 2014, more than 165,000 people died in the U.S. from overdoses related to prescription opioids.